Weak eye sight..Need some tips

[madanthonywayne]

Thus I wounder is there a good chance I will escape the cataracts? Or is that inevitable, if you live long enough? Does diet make any difference in cataract development? I am 75 now.

Yes, cataracts are inevitable. They are really a normal part of aging. At the age of 75, I am certain that you have at least mild cataracts already. However, diet, the use of sunglasses, and good luck may allow you to retain good vision without the need for cataract surgery.

Some doctors, I assume, may not call a cataract a cataract until it requires surgical correction. However, any opacification of the lens is a cataract. With a mild cataract, you might well retain 20/20 vision.

However, even a mild cataract will have some effect. You might notice that your night vision is not as good as it used to be. Or that you seem to need more light than you used to when reading. Often times the change is so gradual that people don't realize what they're missing. Here's a good example of the effect a cataract has on your vision:

That image shows a fairly significant cataract. But it didn't get that way overnight. Over the course of many years the patient's vision slowly changed from the image on the left to the image on the right. Eventually the lens can become completely opaque (a mature cataract) and leave the patient effectively blind.

We are fortunate to live at a time in which cataract surgery is a routine matter and many of my patients see 20/20 the day after cataract surgery.

 

[Billy T]

.... However, even a mild cataract will have some effect. You might notice that your night vision is not as good as it used to be. Or that you seem to need more light than you used to when reading. ...

You are correct, again. I have noticed I see less well when driving at night on road with only my head lights (no street lights). - Unless moon is near full, I don't see much beyond the reach of my lights, even in the city where there is always some light from buildings and signs, etc.

I have not yet noticed any need for more light when reading - Probably because in dim light, my iris is wide open more and, if reading without glasses, my eyes are closer to the page, collecting more light from each word, etc.

I have avoided bright sun light all my life because of concern for skin cancer and have taken vitamin D3 to compensate. Now for several years, with Calcium too trying to keep bones strong as my prostate operation about 3 years ago did not cure me. This is about when the drugs lose control. I only take them with on drug duty cycle of <1/3 as hope that will delay their loss of control. I also take 7 diet items daily that have journal published evidence that they may help. My PSA is still quite low (~ 0.08 ng/dL when I go back on drugs for a month or so, but last 30 day period on drugs did not drive it down as much as I had hoped / expected).

 

[NietzscheHimself]

Two drops of tobramycin and dexamethasone ophthalmic suspension. Ah...

 

[madanthonywayne]

Two drops of tobramycin and dexamethasone ophthalmic suspension. Ah...

Tobradex! One of my favorite meds. There's even a poem about it:

I like to play the game.
And give red eyes a name.
But it doesn't really matter.
' cause I treat them all the same​

.
And that treatment is Tobradex. It doesn't really treat everything, but it's combination of a good antibiotic and a steroid is effective for most eye problems.

However, it can have side effects including cataracts and glaucoma and can make certain conditions worse (most famously, herpes of the eye). So you shouldn't use it unless your under a doctor's care.

 

[NietzscheHimself]

I got two bottles of it counterside... Neither of them the same name as you said... Or eachother... Nice to finally know what it is. I only knew it had steroids.